Run?  A Chronicle of Events
by writertron
Summary: A series of shortish possible scenes leading up to "Sure I can". fem!alex, rating for language
1. Blue

_**AN:** this is sorta a response to Lady Phoenyxx's bunny to chronicle the events running up to SIC. I'm not entirely sure I like all of it, and it's definitely not as funny as the others, so apologies in advance if this disappoints you. Maybe inspiration will strike and I'll rewrite some of the scenes one day. And ObsessivelyOdd - I really hope I manage to keep you as a convert..._

Alex stopped and took a deep breath, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She certainly didn't _look_ any different, unless you counted the tired smudge marks beginning to appear under her eyes and the fact that her hair was still mussed from bed: it was, after all, three in the morning, and it had been an hour ago that she had suddenly woken, an epiphany fresh in her mind, and before her more rational side had even contemplated getting dressed – or even managed to get her to put her shoes on – she had been out the window and racing down the dark street to the closest 24-hour pharmacy, where the cashier had taken in her appearance – pale, wild-eyed, barefoot, clad in thin pyjamas – and given her a look full of female sympathy and understanding that made her wonder how many other half-crazed teenagers had made this same desperate run. _It's going to be okay_, she tried to convince herself. What were the chances, anyway? Extreme stress gave similar symptoms, she knew that, and god knew she was under enough stress at the moment… _It's just the stress. You're paranoid… _She carefully avoided the reminder that it tended to turn out that it wasn't so much paranoia as extremely good instincts. _You think God/Fate/whoever-the-hell-is-pulling-the-strings-up-t__here is out to get you too, now?_

She exhaled slowly, and, in one smooth movement, brought the stick up to eye level.

Blue.

Blue was _bad._


	2. Fox

"_Fox!"_

Ben Daniels gave an undignified yelp as he started violently, knee banging into his desk and spilling thankfully-tepid coffee onto his lap. He looked up, recognising the blonde-haired whirlwind that had just blown into his cubicle. "Hell, Alex, you've got to stop sneaking up on…" He began to complain, exasperated.

She grabbed his collar and yanked, effectively shutting him up as he saw her face, tense and grim. "I'm calling in every favour you do and ever will owe me _right now,"_ she hissed.

He blinked, taken aback. "Alex, calm down, it can't be…"

The words died on his lips as her grip tightened. She reached into a pocket and pulled something out, plunking it down in his automatically-outstretched hand. Slowly, suddenly reluctant to break her gaze – if this item had _Alex_ so worked up, what horrific threat could it be? – he looked down.

"_Shit!"_ He almost dropped it in shock, hundreds of pointless questions rising to his lips, strangling themselves as they fought to be voiced. He looked back up at her, horrified. "Alex… this… you… _how?"_

She gave him a sardonic, almost biting look from where she had begun to pace the short distance between the walls. "The normal way."

Ben took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He was an MI6 agent, for Christ's sake, he knew how to handle a crisis… "Who knows?"

"You." Her voice was terse, and she was starting to gnaw on her thumbnail, a nervous gesture if he ever saw one.

"Blunt?"

She almost snarled at the mention of the name. "Must _never_ know."

"Shit," he repeated softly, going quiet for a moment, mind running over the implications. He suddenly went cold, looking at her in dread. "Alex, you…" His voice petered out, mind scarcely able to contemplate the thought. She glanced at him quizzically. "Force?" was all he could manage. She snorted and shook her head. Relief rushed out of him in a deep sigh. "What do you need me for?"

Alex gave the object a meaningful look. "Him."

He glanced down at it again, then back at her, doubt in his eyes. If she needed his assistance to find this person, who could it be? "Him?"

She nodded. "Him. And _he"_ – she jerked her thumb at the ceiling, in the general direction of Blunt's office – "is just gonna be left wondering where the hell I vanished to. I'm getting out of this _permanently._"

Ben gave her a weak grin. "Come on, then." He stood up, grabbed his jacket, and led her out of the Royal and General bank without a single look back.


	3. Yassen Gregorovich

"Yassen Gregorovich," he said flatly.

"Yes." She confirmed it without blinking a lash.

"Yassen _Gregorovich."_ Incredulity was seeping into his tone.

She shot him an impatient look. "That's what I said."

"_Yassen_ Gregorovich." It might be verging on hysteria, actually, he decided upon closer analysis.

"If you repeat that name _one more time…_"

"_Yassen Gregorovich."_ From her attitude, you'd think he was overreacting. He reviewed the last minute of conversation and concluded that he was, in fact, being rather reasonable about it.

"_Shut the hell up and do something constructive for a change, dammit!"_


	4. Snake I

Ben watched the door open, chewing nervously on his lip. Alex hadn't wanted any more people involved, but once he pointed out exactly what they were trying to achieve, and how it was only going to get more difficult and dangerous for her as time went on, she had folded without a murmur. He fixed a cheery grin on his face and looked up hopefully into the homeowner's face.

He was met with a blank stare. "Fox."

"Hi, Snake!" he burbled, like it hadn't been three years since they'd last been in contact.

There was a pause. "You do realise that you've been declared AWOL and they're looking to arrest you?"

Fox blinked, cheerful façade dropping. "How the hell do you know about that?"

Snake gave him a dry look, opening the door wider to let him in. "Everyone you ever established any kind of rapport with has been informed. I'm under orders to report any sightings immediately."

Fox winced. "Are you going to?" He closed the front door behind him and followed his former teammate further into the house, frowning slightly as he noticed the limp in his gait.

Snake waved a hand dismissively. "Depends what the hell you're doing." He suddenly turned and fixed Fox with a piercing stare.

Fox decided that it would be best to come straight out with it. "Cub needs our help."


	5. Snake II

There was a long, awkward silence as they stared at each other across the room. "You're a medic?" Alex asked eventually.

Snake nodded, eyes assessing. "Yeah. I got taken off active duty after this, though." He gestured to his right leg. "I'm an instructor now."

She nodded. "You're going to help me?" She would feel so much more comfortable with a medic on hand, and something about Snake was calming.

He gave her a considering look. "You got any reasons why I should?"

Alex tilted her head, a faint frown creasing her forehead as she observed him. After a long moment, she grinned. "It'll make up for how guilty you feel about the Brecons."

Snake blinked at her, speechless. She just grinned smugly. He glanced across at Fox, who was trying to stifle a grin where he was standing in the corner of the room. "Persuasive, isn't she?" was all his former teammate had to say.

The medic looked back at the eighteen-year-old in the chair opposite him, disbelieving. How the hell did she know…? "True," he heard himself say. He suddenly grinned, albeit slightly crooked. "I'm in. Anything would be better than the batch of newbies being sent my way."


	6. Eagle

"Eagle," Alex ground out between gritted teeth. "Put that down. Were you paying attention to a word I've said?"

Eagle – now a civilian demolitions expert, his military career far behind him – obediently put the detonator down. "Sure, sure. You want me to come with you to look for a freaking scary assassin without anyone else finding out, right?"

Alex tried not to roll her eyes. "Right."

Eagle shook his head. "No way. Civilian, remember? I _like_ the lack of life-or-death situations which occur around me."

She looked at him, patently unconvinced. "And yet you're a demolitions expert, playing around with certain explosives which aren't supposed to be available to civilians."

"_What?"_ Eagle yelped. Alex pointed to an open box by the wall, one eyebrow raised pointedly. The ex-soldier had the grace to look guilty. "So maybe civilian life's a bit more boring than I expected…"

She grinned. "Come with me and that won't be a problem," she tempted. Eagle looked at her suspiciously. Slyness slipped into her gaze. "Come with me and I won't let Fox know who it was that put itching powder in all of his clothes back at the Brecons."

"What… you…" He spluttered. "How did you know about that?"

Alex just smiled. "If we're successful, I'll get you hooked up with a much better source of all kinds of explosives," she offered. She saw him hesitate and swiftly went on: "Even ones that are restricted _within_ the military."

He eyed her again, this time like an incendiary that had failed to go off, but the light in his eyes showed that he was hooked. "Promise?"

Alex grinned triumphantly. "Deal."


	7. Wolf

Wolf stared at them, grimly unimpressed. His jaw was tight and his eyes were showing his struggle between controlled anger and open fury. "Eagle has resigned his job. Snake has abandoned the new recruits. Fox has just _walked_ out of MI6." The latter two winced at the reminder. "All this, because _you_" – his finger jabbed at Alex, voice rising in volume – "and an _assassin…"_

"It's not like that!" Alex burst out, jumping to her feet defensively. Snake made an abortive movement towards her and she smoothly stepped out of his reach, knowing she needed to calm the hell down _now_ but just getting more and more worked up, because she was alone and vulnerable and they were four grown, combat-trained men and she hated asking for help, hated _needing_ help, and how could she have ever expected _Wolf_ of all people to even try to understand? Her fingers itched to pull out the pistol hidden at the small of her back and she tried to squash the reaction: if she drew on them, not even Fox would unquestioningly hold her side, and the moments of questioning would be deadly.

For a long, tense moment, she thought he was going to continue the barrage to accusations, but he remained silent, jaw working soundlessly, and when he did speak his voice was determinedly level. "Then what is it like?" he ground out.

Alex bit her lip. What could she say to that? They weren't in love or anything, and although she hadn't exactly been willing he hadn't quite forced her… "He… I…" No, she couldn't say anything like that. Wolf was a soldier: some basic explanation needed to come first. She took a deep breath and started again. "Soldiers… have black and white." Silence greeted this apparent non-sequiteur and she hurried on. "They see things in black and white. Good or evil. Our side or theirs. Spies don't."

Fox was nodding somewhere behind her and Wolf's eyebrows were slowly rising. "Your point being…?"  
>"So, to me, he's not necessarily a bad person. Sometimes we're on the same side, sometimes we're not. He's saved my life and I've saved his. He kills for a living, but it's not personal." Alex paused, measuring how well the soldier was following.<p>

He was scowling. "How does it being personal make any difference?"

Alex shot Fox a pleading look and the man took over, rolling his eyes. "A murderer kills for personal reasons and personal emotions. A killer kills for other people's reasons, but his own emotions: he enjoys it. An assassin kills because it's what he's paid to do. There is no emotion." It wasn't exactly textbook, but anyone who dealt with perpetrators of death for a length of time understood the differences.

Alex nodded emphatically. "He's an assassin."

Wolf stared down into her earnest face for a long moment. "And I should help you find him why?" She winced. This was why she hadn't wanted to involve Wolf, but Fox had insisted. _He's an SAS soldier. I'm a spy, Eagle's a civilian and Snake's crippled. If we come under attack, won't you want someone who does that sort of shit for a living around to help out?_ the agent had pointed out. At her silence, he scowled harder. "Exactly. Why don't you go back to MI6? They'll have tabs…"

"_No!" _Wolf jumped slightly at the extreme reaction, hand twitching to where his gun would be if he had been armed. Both Alex and Fox had yelled, the latter now standing by the teenager like a protective mother bear over a cub, the former with one arm wrapped tightly around her flat stomach and the other at the small of her back where he suspected she had a gun. Slowly, he stepped back, unthreatening. "…Why not?"

Fox was looking at him like he was being incredibly stupid. "What, exactly, do you think MI6 would _not_ do with this?"

Wolf remembered the tales he had heard of MI6, the few operatives he had met on various assignments across the globe, and realized exactly what he had said that was so stupid. "Right." He thought further. He didn't _like_ the situation, and nor did he approve of what Cub had done, but in the end… "Let's go, then."

**_AN: _**_this is the chapter I'm least sure about... it would be awesome if you could tell me (honestly) how badly you think I mangled it?_


	8. Paris

Alex led them into the obviously-empty Paris apartment, ignoring Eagle's soft whistle of awe. "It's just like a _normal_ place," he muttered.

Alex didn't deign to respond to that, gesturing them towards the main room. "I don't think we'll find anything, but I guess we should look."

"You reckon we're safe enough to crash here for a few days regardless?" Wolf asked gruffly. He was still evidently unsure how to treat her, but she had completely forgiven him for everything the moment he had agreed to come with them, regardless of the fact that his leave was shortly going to end and that there were serious consequences for an active SAS soldier pulling this sort of thing.

"Yeah, no reason why not," she shrugged. Her eyes drifted across the room, sliding out of focus as she remembered when _he_ had brought her here, hot mouth on hers, iron-strong body tight against her…

"Cub?" a voice interrupted her thoughts and she growled.

"_Don't_ call me that!" she snapped, glaring.

Fox rolled his eyes. "What's through there?" He jerked his head to a closed door.

Alex instantly blushed bright red, hands coming up to cover her flaming cheeks. Laughter sounded around her and she cursed her own reaction. _It's just the bedroom,_ she tried to convince herself. _It's not like they'll look in there and know what happened any more than they do already…_ Eagle made an abortive movement towards to door and she almost bit his head off. _"It's private!"_ she hissed.

Taking in the fury flashing in her eyes and recalling both her hormonal state and her extensive knowledge concerning how to hurt people, the four men decided quite swiftly that they agreed.


	9. Breakdown

"_I'm going to kill that fucking bastard!"_

The four men collectively winced as the shriek split the evening quiet. Wolf was looking like he regretted being seated closest to the door, which also put him in closest proximity to the source of the shriek, which was pacing the front of the room and describing the manner of death quite graphically.

"… and then I'll _castrate him!"_ She whirled about as she reached the wall and stormed back the other way, oblivious to the flinch of reflexive male sympathy her words elicited.

"Cub…" Wolf tried.

She stopped pacing, rounding on him and nearly screaming. _"Don't call me that!"_

He caught a glimpse of her face and the retort he had ready on his lips died. Was that _tears_ glimmering in her eyes? He exchanged a startled glance with Snake, who grimaced before trying his own intervention. "Alex…?" he began softly. "It's going to be okay."

She shook her head violently, stepping back. "Shut up." His mouth opened and she was screaming again. "Just _shut up!_ And stop looking at me with that _pity_ in your eyes!" She spat the words out. "I don't need your pity, I'm not weak and telling him is _not_ a stupid idea!" Snake winced again. He hadn't realised that she had overheard that particular debate.

"Alex," he said gently, levelly. "I don't pity you, there is nothing about you that is weak and telling him is your decision, not ours." He slowly stood up, keeping his arms just out from his sides, clearly visible at all times. "It's going to be okay, Alex."

"You don't know that." Her voice wavered, and her breath caught in something like a sob. _"You don't know that!" _she screamed. Her entire body shook in a second sob and she was babbling. "You can't promise that and no one else seems to even know that he's still _alive_ and _I don't know what to do!"_ The sobs were more frequent now, tears streaming down her face, arms wrapped defensively around her stomach.

Snake stepped towards her, reaching out. "Alex…"

She stepped away from him, hunching over, crying like her heart was broken and the world was ending. Finally, one last scream, voice ragged and furious and desperate: _"Where the fuck is he?"_


	10. Kidnap

"I think I should get myself kidnapped." Alex plunked a bowlful of cereal onto the table and pulled out a chair, sitting down and lifting a spoon, oblivious to the blank looks being exchanged around her in response to her announcement.

"Alex…?" Snake asked eventually, voice filled with caution.

She looked up, registering their shock. "What? It's a good idea!" she said defensively.

Eagle choked on his toast. "I know I've been out the loop for a while, guys, but how is anyone getting kidnapped ever a good idea?"

"It's not," Wolf grunted, wrapping his hands around a steaming cup of coffee.

"It is!" Alex insisted. "He always turns up every time I get kidnapped!"

There was another pause. "Alex," Snake began, picking his words carefully. "Regardless of your assassin's proclivity towards stalking" – _"He's not _my_ assassin!" "But he does stalk you?" "Shut _up_, Eagle!"_ – "If you ever so much as move out of my sight in a manner which makes me think you might be attempting to implement such a plan, I will call Alan Blunt myself and tell him exactly where you are, understood?"

Alex lowered her spoon and looked up at him, hurt. "But…"

"What will you do if you get hurt before your assassin turns up?" Snake asked pointedly. "What if he doesn't come at all? You're not just responsible for yourself any more." She wilted. He was right, of course. Her free hand brushed across her stomach almost guiltily.

"Besides," Fox added helpfully from somewhere near the doorway. "If he hasn't noticed us storming through Europe to find him, he's never going to notice you being kidnapped."

Alex glanced around the room. All four of them were nodding. Scowling, she shot a weak glare at Fox, but nodded, ungracefully giving in. "Fine!" She turned back to her breakfast and ignored them.


	11. Russia

The sound of the explosion echoed through the night, throwing it into sharp relief. Eagle, as a fellow demolitions expert, whistled softly, impressed, watching as flames licked up towards the sky and cast an ominous flickering pattern of light and shadows across the dark streets.

Fox groaned, grabbing his arm and dragging him after them as they fled, Wolf cursing under his breath as he helped Snake, Alex leading. "Who the hell is it this time?" the soldier hissed as they rounded a corner.

Alex shrugged, but her shoulders were tense. "Could be anyone." She held up a hand, suddenly halting, and they all shrank into the shadows, watching as several armed figures jogged past up ahead. "Any guesses as to what they blew up?"

Eagle craned his neck, peering in the direction of the blast. "Our hotel is in that direction, and the explosion looked right for a building…"

Fox swore. "The _hotel?_ And I thought the _French_ overreacted…" Wolf and Snake simultaneously winced as they recalled exactly how the French DCRI had responded to the news that Alex Rider was in-country with a unit of – for lack of a better term – deserters.

"So what, it's the KGB?" Wolf grunted, edging into a side-road, then signalling for them to follow.

"The KGB doesn't exist anymore," Fox replied absently as they began running again. "Hasn't since the end of the Soviet Union. It's something else now…"

"The FSB," Alex supplied. "But I wouldn't count on it being them. A bit too explosive for a standing alive-and-not-unduly-harmed order to bring me in, I think."

Snake blinked. "Alive-and-not-unduly-harmed?" he parroted, growling in frustration as his leg buckled slightly and Wolf had to grab him to keep him upright.

"Yeah, they seem really interested in meeting me, and probably think I might be more agreeable if they didn't shoot me beforehand or something," she replied dismissively, halting them again to hide from another patrol.

Eagle gave her a sidelong look, shaking his head in disbelief at her casual phrasing. "Or blow you up," he agreed, since her point was good. "So, not the Russians then. And since we're in Russia, that leaves is with what?"

Fox looked like he'd swallowed a lemon. "An unrelated attack, or SCORPIA."

"Shit," Wolf snarled. The others fully agreed. "Plan?"

Alex blinked as they all looked at her. She shrugged helplessly. "Run?"

**_AN: _**_I think this is all of them, but I suppose that it's entirely possible that I'll come up with more. I hope it was worth the wait! anyone who's after a sequel to SIC... I'm still thinking about it. It might be a long time in coming, so don't hold your breath._


End file.
